Tuesday, December 8, 2009

TWD - Sables

This week’s TWD recipe is sables and was chosen by Barbara of Bungalow Barbara. These is my first Christmas themed baking for this year as well, although I did make my Christmas cake back in the end of October.

Sables are the French version of shortbread, the difference being that they are much more delicate and thin and contain egg yolks which enrich the dough. I cant remember whether I have made a true sable biscuit/cookie before, but I have tasted them in France. The recipe is very easy – if it was in my Nana’s recipe book it would say “make in the usual way” – ie cream butter and sugar, add egg yolks and then stir in flour. The dough is very soft, but time in the fridge makes the dough much more workable. You could roll this dough out and cut into shapes, but as it is very buttery, you might find that you lose the shape in the baking. I did what Dorie suggested – rolled the dough into logs, then rolled in Christmas coloured sugar, sliced and baked.

I only made a few of these cookies, freezing the rest of the dough for Christmas gifts. I loved the cookies – they are crisp and buttery and with the coloured sugar coating, look particularly festive. Dorie gives a number of variations and I want to try them all. Maybe everyone will be getting sables for Christmas from me this year!

18 comments:

not a silly question, I actually bought that coloured sugar, but I have coloured it myself before by doing it exactly what yuo said. the sugar can end up a bit wetter and clumpier, but probably if you put it in the hot water cupboard after colouring it, it would dry out a bit

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I am a Mum to my gorgeous wee baby boy Harry, a wife to my lovely husband, full time partner in my law firm and baker. I love reading other people's blogs and have always had aspirations to write a cook book, so hopefully this blog will satisfy some of that desire!